Obama visit possible in Springfield

There’s been no official word yet, but Springfield is preparing for a visit from President Barack Obama next month, just in case.

Deana Poole

There’s been no official word yet, but Springfield is preparing for a visit from President Barack Obama next month, just in case.

Obama has been invited to the Abraham Lincoln Association’s annual Lincoln’s Birthday banquet, which is scheduled for Feb. 12 at the Crowne Plaza. The banquet, which is sold out, is one of many events planned to commemorate Lincoln’s 200th birthday.

Mayor Tim Davlin said the city hasn’t heard whether Obama will attend.

“We’re already planning just in case,” Davlin said. “We all know the possibility exists. The Police Department is all ready. They’re geared. ... We’re pretty good at this right now. We’ve done this a few times.”

If Obama accepts the invitation, it will be his third visit to Springfield in two years, but his first as president.

His previous visits to Springfield marked key moments in his campaign. Obama announced his plans to run for president in February 2007 and his choice of Joe Biden as vice president last August at the Old State Capitol. Davlin said he could see Obama returning to Springfield.

“Personally, I think it’s the right thing to do. It ties into everything that he talked about for the last two years,” Davlin said. “But then again, I’m being biased. So that doesn’t help any.”

Abraham Lincoln Association president Richard Hart said Tuesday the organization also hasn’t heard whether Obama will make the banquet.

“We’ve invited him, and we hope he will be able to attend since he is so much a part of Springfield and Lincoln,” Hart said. “It would be a great honor to have him.”

Hart said more than 900 people are expected to attend the banquet, including former Govs. Jim Edgar and Jim Thompson and former U.S. Sen. Adlai Stevenson III. The event has attracted reservations from across the country, Hart said, and some from other countries. Davlin said he’s heard speculation that Obama won’t come to Illinois if there’s still controversy surrounding Gov. Rod Blagojevich. “But I don’t know that,” Davlin said. “This is just what I’m hearing other people say.”

Attempts to reach a spokesman for the White House for comment were unsuccessful.

What would a third Obama visit mean for Springfield?“To come back a third time — I’m just thinking the ancillary things that would happen,” Davlin said.

“The things like people in the Pentagon think when we’re coming out there. We’re going to start talking to them right now about future missions (for the Springfield-based 183rd Fighter Wing). ... They’ve got to sit and scratch their heads a little bit and say, ‘Wow, here’s a president who loves this city, loves his home state enough to go back to the same city three times in exactly two years.’ "